Vasseur, Dominique H. (1951-) | Oberlin College Archives

Dominique Henri Vasseur, also known to family members by the nickname “Nick,” was born on May 8, 1951, in Soisy-sous-Montmorency, France. Dominique lived with his parents, Jacques H. Vasseur and Mary Burmeister Vasseur, at Le Bourget (a suburb of Paris) until his father’s 1953 death. He traveled to the United States in late 1953 and was raised by his mother in her hometown, Springfield, Ohio. Dominique graduated from Springfield North High School in 1969.

He attended Oberlin College from 1969-1973. In 1971, Dominique created the posters for Fernando Arrabal’s Théâtre Panique, which was put on by Oberlin’s French workshop. Dominique received a B.A. in art history and French literature in February of 1974.

Following his time at Oberlin College, Dominique enrolled in graduate school at the University of Chicago, graduating with a Master of Arts in the History of Art in 1976. He served as the secretary to Dr. Harold Joachim (1975) and as a research assistant for J. Patrice Marandel at the Art Institute of Chicago (1976-1977) during and after his master’s program. Following that, Dominique worked as a gallery technician at the Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago (1978). He returned to the Art Institute of Chicago, where he worked in the registrar’s office as an assistant (1978-1979).

Dominique returned to Ohio, beginning work as the Dayton Art Institute’s assistant curator of European Art and museum registrar in 1979. He served in various curatorial and leadership roles at the Dayton Art Institute through 1999. From 2000 through 2005, Dominique was the Deputy Director and Curator of the Springfield Museum of Art. In 2005, Dominique joined the Columbus Museum of Art as Associate Curator of European Art. He served in curatorial and leadership roles at the Columbus Museum of Art until 2015, when he retired as the Director of Curatorial Administration and Chief Curator.